PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE 63rd ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY:
DISASTER AND ARCHAEOLOGY: SUSTAINABILITY AND DISCONTINUITY Part 1

Abstract:This
paper studies the responses of hunter-gatherers to volcanic disasters
that occurred in Kyushu during the initial Jomon period, focusing on
the following three examples: the Kikai-Akahoya eruption (K-Ah), which
is representative of a massive explosive eruption, the Sakurajima-11
eruption (Sz-11) and the Kirishima-Ushinosune eruption (UsA). The last
two cases are smaller than K-Ah on the eruption scale. As a result, it
is inferred that, regardless of the size of the eruption, the social
responses of hunter-gatherer societies to volcanic disasters were
either “avoid” or ”endure”. It is possible that the hunter-gatherers
who did not perished as a direct result of the pyroclastic flow
overcame the disaster by changing residence area and territory, and
their range of activities to cope with the deterioration of the
environment and availability of food resources. It is thought that
highly mobile societies were more adaptable than sedentary societies to
sudden and violent changes to the natural environment.

Abstract:
I stress that even though traces of extraordinary natural events such
as volcanic eruptions or massive earthquakes are recognized during
excavation, making an appropriate assessment of the damage caused by
such an event is extremely difficult. This is more so in cases of
sediment-related disasters of a local nature, such as flooding and
debris flow. Explaining the residents’ recovery from such a disaster is
even more challenging, because the archaeologist must first demonstrate
the actual extent of the damage, and then verify that the people who
were active afterwards were the same as those who suffered the
disaster. Nevertheless, I emphasize that buried cultural properties
investigations play a major role for local governments when compiling
lists of past natural disasters, to improve the hazard maps in terms of
the history of disaster for their local areas. Here, I provide as
example a case study focusing on a large-scale debris flow that
occurred during the transition from the Early to Middle Yayoi periods
at the Shirakawa alluvial fan in the northeastern Kyoto basin, covering
Early Yayoi paddies at two locations. I attempt to examine whether the
local culture of the end of the Early Yayoi period, immediately before
the debris flow, had been destroyed by or rather had withstood, this
local disaster at the beginning of the Middle Yayoi, by comparing the
material culture of two consecutive periods forming a short span
encompassing the debris flow, mainly in terms of pottery and mortuary
features.

ARTICLES

Abstract:
In this contribution I study how the diversification of cord marking
arose through an analysis of the separate vessel types of Late Jōmon
pottery, which exhibits the greatest variety of cord mark patterns for
the Jōmon period in the Kinki region. Using materials recovered from
the group of Jōmon sites at the southwestern base of Mt. Hiei, I
analyze changes in pottery thickness, changes in the types of cord
marking, the relationships between the types of vessels and types of
cord marking, and the correlation between the pattern width and density
of nodes for different cord-marking patterns based on the number of
cords comprising the pattern.
The results of the analysis are as follows:
1） There is no correlation between changes in vessel types and changes
in the twist direction of the cord used for marking.
2） A change toward larger numbers of cords comprising the pattern is
seen regardless of the twist direction.
3） There were specific norms for types of cord marking for particular
vessel types.
4） The majority of rolled knotted cord impressions consist of marks
made with two-ply counter-rotating （LR） cord.
5） The pattern made with supplemental cord wrapping is found on the
surface of spouted pots.
I conclude that the minute nodes brought about by the change toward
larger numbers of cords comprising the pattern can be understood as the
result of the Jōmon group living in the area changing its cord-marking
patterns in harmony with changes in other attributes. Based on the
gradual nature of this change in cord marking, I point to the
possibility of these changes coming about indigenously within this
region.

Abstract:
The Kofun period was an era in which tremendous energy was poured into
the construction of individual graves for kings and chiefs. As it was
not merely that grave goods were exquisite, but also that extremely
elaborate execution was seen in the coffins and the facilities which
contained them, the unraveling of this attribute bit by bit may provide
an effective historical framework for pursuing research into
interpersonal relationships among the interred, or the characteristics
of the regional powers to which they belonged.
With regard to vertical stone chambers, ranked as the highest burial
facility in the first half of the Kofun period, the structure of the
base portion has fundamentally become the material for examinations of
regionality. But as the base portion’s structure is mainly for the
purpose of supporting the weight of the coffin, and is of necessity
greatly influenced by whether the coffin material is wood or stone,
issues of regionality or lines of derivation have not received much
treatment especially for vertical stone chambers that held sarcophagi.
By conducting an examination, based on the cross-sectional shape of the
chambers’ interior space, of vertical stone chambers taking as object
examples having both wooden coffins and sarcophagi, the current
contribution points out that clear regionality can be recognized for
vertical stone chambers of the Kinai region, and that this regionality
continues to be maintained even when chambers reach the stage of
containing sarcophagi. Also, from the examples of the Tsudō Shiroyama
tomb in Osaka and the Muro Miyayama tomb in Nara, it is regarded that
the burial facility adopted for the highest ranking stratum of the
Middle Kofun, consisting to begin with of the Mozu and Furuichi tomb
groups, was more intimately related to the regional characteristics of
Kawachi rather than Yamato or Yamashiro.

Abstract:
This paper reports on a systematic study of cylindrical haniwa
from
Izumo and western Houki, Izumo, in the San’in region, and is intended
to clarify community dynamics through an understanding of the system of
haniwa production.
A result of the study, we determined that a new haniwa
production
system was established in the latter half of the late Kofun period.
This is considered to be the integration and restructuring of the
existing haniwa production systems. In addition, the new
system appears
unrelated to haniwa production in Kinai, and its use was
restricted to
within the region.
This change may have been brought about by the assumed formation of a
broad-based network between the chiefs across the Izumo and western
Houki area based on the appearance of impressive tumuli.

Keywords: Izumo and western
Houki; the second half of late Kofun period; cylindrical haniwa;
production system; community.